Visiting the mills was a fun, interesting learning experience that helped me see what working conditions may have been like in the past. Understanding history that happened so long ago is a lot easier when you’re able to put a picture to it and recognize a little bit better what it was like then. If I understood correctly, the two men said that they worked in a mill many years ago, which is nice that we were able to learn from men that worked in those conditions in the past. Although I never worked there, I can imagine how difficult the working conditions may have been back then. For example, there were limited windows, and when there were windows they were small, in an attempt to control the amount of sun that got in the room. It was also interesting what our tour guide was mentioning about the fire door. I believe he told us that they had an aluminum block weighing the door open, but if it melted due to a fire then the door would be able to shut, thereby containing the fire. Also, it struck me when our guide mentioned how many eels would block the waterflow, and they would pay men to kill eels because of this. While the working conditions may have not been the best, I was able to get the sense of just how important these mills are, and how many jobs they bring into the community.
Good Evening Matthew,
I also thought it was just downright oppressive but impressive with how hard and diligently these workers face awful conditions consistently but still came to work every day and really makes me grateful for what I have. Keep up the great writing!
Hi Matt, I was also taken aback by the working conditions of the mill during the Industrial era. Today, there are so many regulations preventing employers from doing anything like that, so it’s absolutely insane to think about how dealing with those horrible conditions was seen as part of the day. I also thought the sliding fire door mechanism was interesting, however I believe the block holding the door open was lead, since it has about half the melting point of aluminum.